By Ann McCreary

State wildlife officials are investigating the apparent poaching of a cow elk, after finding a severed head on Sept. 22 that appeared to be deliberately placed next to a U.S. Forest Service road in the Fawn Creek area.

“The disembodied head was neatly placed on the gravel embankment just off the maintained portion of the roadway,” said Jason Day a police officer with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). “From our perspective, the elk head looks intentionally placed at a prominent location on the roadway as either a gruesome joke or public taunt of the game wardens.”

WDFW police responded after a citizen reported seeing the elk head, Day said. There was no open elk hunting season in the area at the time the head was discovered, Day said. WDFW police are investigating the…